Flowertime

Goldmound Spirea
Originally uploaded by Janice Saunders

It's almost summer and things are blooming. These aren't exotic specimens, just garden variety... my garden variety... beauties. Ottawa is a tough environment for many plants and these guys just  come back faithfully every year.
The Spirea has beautiful golden foliage and dainty purple flowers. You would think that Mother Nature knew something about colour theory...yellow and purple are complementary colours.
The Mock Orange is an old fashioned shrub that is quite unremarkable most of the year except in June when it is a mass of single layer white blossoms.

Hostas are a garden favourite for many because they are super low maintenance and they provide great visual contrast between their large leaves and other plants with smaller leaves. I think Lady’s Mantle is a great addition to any garden. Again, it is an old-fashioned plant, but it provides visual contrast and blooms later in the summer. I had a little fun with the original Lady’s Mantle photo and used the Kaleidoscope Distortion Filter available in Microsoft Digital Image Suite10. It works best with large simple shapes. Now, I use Photoshop Elements and have been unaware that Microsoft has discontinued the Digital Image Suite product.  Elements doesn’t have a Kaleidoscope filter but some people have suggested this site for a plug-in… http://www.mehdiplugins.com/. Maybe I will try it too.

For those tech geeks out there, my husband is one of them,  there is a new application for the iPad aimed at artists and photographers, as a way to sell/promote their work through the iTunes store..a wallpaper app. It can be pricey and there are probably other options too but the link is worth checking out. The company is called Shanli Mobile Software.

I am looking forward to the fantastic blooms on my Trumpet vine, the buds are already forming. This voracious vine is threatening to take over the back of my house but it rewards us with non-stop blooms all summer long. And, it attracts Hummingbirds.